CHAPTER - 17

STARS AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM

CLASS :- VIII
SUBJECT :- SCIENCE
1) Celestial objects :-
The objects in the sky like galaxies, stars, planets,
satellites, asteroids, meteors, comets etc. are called
celestial objects.
2) Galaxies :-
A galaxy is a a very large group of stars containing
billions of stars. There are billions of galaxies in the
universe. They are of various shapes and sizes.
3) The Moon :-
The moon is a natural satellite of the earth. It revolves
around the earth. The moon completes one rotation on its
axis as it completes one revolution around the earth.
 Phases of the moon :-
The changes in the shape of the bright part of the moon is called
phases of the moon. It is caused due to the revolution of the moon
around the earth and the relative positions of the earth and the sun.
The day on which the whole disc of the moon is visible is called full
moon day. Then the bright part of the moon becomes thinner and
thinner and on the fifteenth day the moon is not visible. This is called
new moon day. Then a small part of the moon becomes visible as
crescent moon. Then again the bright part becomes larger and larger
and on the fifteenth day it once again becomes full moon.
 The moon’s surface :-
The moon’s surface is dusty and barren. There are many craters of
different sizes. It also has many high mountains. It has no atmosphere
or water.
In 1969 Neil Armstrong was the first man to land on the moon. He was
followed by Edwin Aldrin.
4) Stars :-
Stars are celestial objects which emit light of their own. They are of
different colours. The sun is also a star. It appears large because it is the
nearest star to the earth. The other stars appear very small because they
are millions of times away fro the sun.
 The sun is nearly 150,000,000 (150 million) kilometres away from the
earth. The next nearest star Alpha Centauri is 40,000,000,000,000 km
from the earth.
Very large distances are measured in a unit called light year. It is the
distance travelled by light in one year. The speed of light is 3,00,000 km
per second. The sun is 8 light minutes away from the earth. Alpha
Centauri is about 4.3 light years away from the earth.
 Stars appear to move from east to west. This is because the earth
rotates from west to east.
There is a star in the sky called the Pole star (Polaris) which does not
appear to move. This is because the pole star is located in the direction
of the north pole of the earth’s axis.
5) Constellations :-
Constellation is a small group of stars that has a
recognisable shape. Eg :- Ursa Major, Orion, Cassiopeia,
Leo Major, Ursa Minor etc.
Ursa Major Orion

Cassiopeia Leo Major

a) Ursa Major :-
Ursa Major is also called Great Bear, Big Dipper or Saptharishi. It
has seven main stars and appears like a big laddle or dipper. There are
three stars in the handle and four stars in the bowl of the laddle.
 We can locate the Pole star (Polaris) by extending an
imaginary line from the last two stars of Ursa Major
towards the north.
b) Orion :-
Orion is also called Hunter. It has eight main stars and
has the shape of a hunter. The three stars in the middle
represents the belt of the hunter.
 We can locate the brightest star in the sky Sirius by
extending an imaginary line through the three middle stars
of Orion.
c) Cassiopeia :-
Cassiopeia has five main stars. It appears like a distorted
letter W or M.
6) The solar system :-
The sun and the celestial bodies which revolves around it
forms the solar system. It has a large number of bodies like
planets, satellites, asteroids, meteors, comets.
 The eight planets in the order of their distance from the
sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus and Neptune.
7) The Sun :-
The sun is the nearest star from us. It is continuously
emitting huge amounts of heat and light. It is the main
source of heat and light for the earth and other planets.
8) The Planets :-
Planets are celestial objects which revolves around a star. The path
along which a planet revolves is called orbit. The time taken to complete
one orbit is called period of revolution. Planets also rotates on its own
axis. The time taken for one rotation is called period of rotation. Some
planets have moons/satellites revolving around them.
9) Satellites :-
A celestial body revolving around another celestial body is called a
satellite. The moon is a natural satellite of the earth.
There are many man-made satellites revolving around the earth. They
are called artificial satellites.
i) Natural satellites :-

ii) Artificial satellites :-

10) The planets :-
i) Mercury (Budh) :-
Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun. It is the smallest planet. It
has no satellites.
ii) Venus (Shukra) :-
Venus is the nearest planet to the earth. It is the brightest
planet. Since it is seen in the eastern sky before sunrise
and western sky before sunset, it is called morning star or
evening star. It has no satellites.
iii) Earth (Prithvi) :-
The earth is the only planet where life is known to exist. It has the
right temperature, atmosphere, water and a protective ozone layer.
The earth has a tilted axis which is responsible for the seasons on the
earth. The earth has one satellite (moon).
iv) Mars (Mangal) :-
Mars is the next planet outside the orbit of the earth. It
appears slightly reddish and is called the red planet. It has
two satellites.
v) Jupiter (Brihaspathi) :-
Jupiter is the largest planet of the solar system. It is
about 1300 times larger than the earth. It has faint rings
around it. It has a large number of satellites.
vi) Saturn (Shani) :-
It is yellowish in colour. It has several rings around it. It
is the least dense among all the planets. It has several
satellites.
vii) Uranus :-
Uranus has a highly tilted orbit. It rotates from east to
west. It has several satellites.
viii) Neptune :-
Like Uranus, Neptune has a highly tilted orbit. It is
bluish green in colour. It has several satellites.
11) Asteroids :-
Asteroids are small objects that revolve around the sun
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
12) Comets :-
Comets are objects which revolve around the sun in
highly elliptical orbits. Their period of revolution around the
sun is very long. It has a bright head and a long tail. The tail
grows longer as it approaches the sun and is directed away
from the sun.
13) Meteors and Meteorites :-
A meteor is a small object that enters the earth’s
atmosphere at high speed and burn up completely due to
friction producing a bright streak for a short time. So they
are also called shooting stars.
Meteorite :-
Some meteors are large and they do not burn up
completely and fall on the earth. The body that reaches the
earth is called meteorite.
14) Artificial satellites :-
Artificial satellites are man – made satellites launched from
the earth. They revolve around the earth at a lower orbit.
India has built and launched several artificial satellites.
Arybhatta was the first Indian satellite. Some other satellites
are APPLE, INSAT, EDUSAT, IRS etc.
Artificial satellites are used in weather forecasting,
telecommunication, remote sensing, transmitting radio and
TV signals etc.